The president of the American Council on Renewable Energy believes the recent growth in renewable energy markets is just the beginning of sustained growth that will increase the renewable energy business by 10 times.

This ACORE press release says President Michael Eckhart made the remarks at a clean tech conference in Seattle:

“The growth of renewable energy means jobs and economic growth in every Congressional district,” said Mr. Eckhart November 8 at the Cleantech Investing on the Pacific Northwest conference hosted by the Stoel Rives law firm and Nth Power venture capital firm. “And members of Congress are beginning to see it. The major job creators in Germany in the past three years have been the wind and solar industries. We can have those jobs, too.”

The global renewable energy industry is receiving third-party capital investment of approximately $100 billion in 2007, according to New Energy Finance. The level of venture capital funding has increased more than tenfold since the year 2000, according to Clean Edge. Eckhart said the current boom in investment and financing is as a trend, not a bubble.

Eckhart went on to tell conference attendees that President George W. Bush and Congress are key to setting the environmental rules and incentives for change.